Monthly Archive:: August 2012

Microsoft's response to Apple's win is probably the most cringeworthy of all. Blatantly admitting Windows Phone can't make a dent in the market on merit, but instead requires the court room to do so, Bill Cox, senior director of Windows Phone marketing communications, said: "Windows Phone is looking gooooood right now." Nauseating.

Reactions to Apple's yesterday win are in. Tim Cook: "The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung were about much more than patents or money. They were about values. At Apple, we value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. We applaud the court for finding Samsung's behavior willful and for sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn't right." Samsung: "Today's verdict should not be viewed as a win for Apple, but as a loss for the American consumer. It will lead to fewer choices, less innovation, and potentially higher prices. It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners, or technology that is being improved every day by Samsung and other companies."

"Jolla, the mobile startup staffed by former Nokia executives who want to keep the company's MeeGo software alive, says it will use existing technology to bring in apps from other platforms - including Android. Will it be enough to boost the plucky company's fortunes?" It won't be a saving grace, but it's a nice bonus. There's something about these guys that fills me with confidence. Can't wait for their devices to hit the market.

A new version of Chrome OS has been released. From the Chrome Blog: "We made the apps list much more compact, so you can access your apps without interrupting your browsing experience. We also added a search box at the top of the apps list, which you can use like an omnibox to search the web, specific websites, or the apps on your computer, visual improvements such as a redesigned Cloud Print dialog and the ability to add custom wallpaper. You can now also save files directly to Google Drive, so you can access files later from any device, including Drive on iOS or Android. Under the hood, we've added audio support for USB and HDMI, additional sandboxing security features, and many more bug fixes."

For the first time in eons, Microsoft has changed its logo. "The logo has two components: the logotype and the symbol. For the logotype, we are using the Segoe font which is the same font we use in our products as well as our marketing communications. The symbol is important in a world of digital motion. The symbol's squares of color are intended to express the company's diverse portfolio of products." Nice logo, clean, concise. With Windows Phone 8, Office 2013 and Windows 8 on the way, the company could use a fresh coat of paint. Confusing that they're using what would've been a better Windows logo than the Windows 8 logo, but alas.

"We all know about the gadgets that get showered with constant praise - the icons, the segment leaders, and the game changers. Tech history will never forget the Altair 8800, the Walkman, the BlackBerry, and the iPhone. But people do forget - and quickly - about the devices that failed to change the world: the great ideas doomed by mediocre execution, the gadgets that arrived before the market was really ready, or the technologies that found their stride just as the world was pivoting to something else." I was a heavy user of BeOS, Zip drives, and MiniDisc (I was an MD user up until about 2 years ago). I'm starting to see a pattern here.

"AT&T is defending its decision to limit the use of Apple's video chat feature, FaceTime, to its Mobile Share data plans by saying that the limitation does not violate the FCC's net neutrality rules. The company wrote in a blog post on Wednesday that some groups had 'another knee-jerk reaction' to AT&T's limitation, but the company argues that its decision meets all FCC requirements." You can expect Verizon to follow suit soon. Carriers don't do things like this unless they know the competition will tag along. This also happens to explain why Apple probably can't do much about it; if both Verizon and AT&T give FaceTime the boot like this, there's little Apple can do. For what it's worth - I'm happy The Netherlands (and Chile!) has unconditional net neutrality. This would not fly here, further illustrating the need for net neutrality.

As Sammobile reports: "Samsung will not bring any kind of new Bada phones in the second half of 2012. Samsung's latest bada phones showed up last year at IFA 2011 in Berlin. Samsung showed the Wave3, Wave M and Wave Y, all those devices run on Bada version 2.0. The focus of Samsung in the second half of 2012 is fully on Windows Phone 8 and Android. Because the Windows Phone market is in the hands of Nokia they will try to get that share back. Samsung will also try to make their Android position better than before. Thanks to some new Galaxy products in the second half of 2012. Another sad thing is Samsung moved their first TIZEN OS devices to 2013. Samsung already gave away some developers devices with TIZEN 1.0. The only problem is the support from TIZEN itself." Tizen was a lost cause to begin with, and Bada, while actually pretty good, can easily be replaced by Android. As much as it sucks to lose two operating systems (don't kid yourselves - these are EOL messages), it makes sense from a business perspective. Next up: the TouchWiz team.

"Google's Motorola Mobility unit said it filed a new patent-infringement case against Apple claiming that features on some Apple devices, including the Siri voice-recognition program, infringe its patents. The complaint at the U.S. International Trade Commission claims infringement of seven Motorola Mobility patents on features including location reminders, e-mail notification and phone/video players, Motorola Mobility said yesterday. The case seeks a ban on U.S. imports of devices including the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers." Can anybody explain to me how this is a new suit when Motorola and Apple have been wasting tax money and court resources for years now?

With Windows 8 right around the corner, the usual game of reading the end-user license agreements and spotting the different versions is in full swing. Usually, this is a game of ridicule as Microsoft comes up with ever more convoluted version schemes and EULA terms. This time around, though, the company seems to be taking steps to make things easier, as Ed Bott reports.

"Earlier this month Judge William Alsup ordered Oracle and Google to disclose any journalists or bloggers either has paid that could have commented on the Oracle v. Google case. Both parties responded last week - but Judge Alsup didn't think Google was completely forthright, and has asked the company to try again by the end of the week." Good to know Alsup is on top of this. Google claimed it hadn't paid any shills, but as large and powerful as the company is, I find that very hard to believe.

"The web has been alight these past few weeks with the details of the Apple v. Samsung lawsuit. It's been a unique opportunity to peer behind the curtain of how these two companies operate, as the trial seeks to answer the question: did Samsung copy Apple? But there's actually another question that I think is much more interesting to the future of innovation in the technology industry: regardless of whether the courts say that Samsung copied Apple or not, would we all be better off if we allowed - even encouraged - companies to copy one another?" This is very relevant.

Fascinating bit of news dug up by The Verge. AOSP's main man, Jean-Baptiste Queru, has announced that he is going to try to add support for the Sony Xperia S to AOSP - effectively turning it into a Nexus-class device. "Over time, AOSP has added files related to various hardware targets. For a new challenge, I'd like to try to go one step further, and to target some hardware beyond the usual categories. I've added a git project for the Sony LT26, i.e. Xperia S. This seems like a good target: it's a powerful current GSM device, with an unlockable bootloader, from a manufacturer that has always been very friendly to AOSP." AOSP support is usually reserved for Nexus devices, so this is certainly a bold new step for Android to take. Coincidentally, I made a list yesterday of possible Android phones to replace my Galaxy SII if the need were to arise, and the Xperia S sits firmly atop that list because of its distinctive, angled design (as opposed to the rounded blandness of the SIII and One X). In other words, this is yet another reason to go with this one (since my SII is doing just fine, I'm actually holding out for a WP8 Lumia to replace my HTC HD7).

Interesting. The Verge summarises the loads of news and rumours coming out of OnLive today - much of the staff seems to have been laid off, and an acquisition could be imminent. Who will it be? Apple? Google? Microsoft? EA? Valve? CommodoreUSA?